Unseasonably Warm Temps to Continue Through Thanksgiving

By DNAinfo Staff on November 19, 2012 8:14pm | Updated on November 19, 2012 8:18pm

John Collins, 33, of Austin, Texas, wears shorts while he visits the glowing Crown Fountain Monday with his wife’s nieces, who live in Tinley Park.
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DNAinfo/Kyla Gardner

Chicagoans will enjoy an unseasonably warm Thanksgiving this year, when the mercury could hit the 60s although likely fall short of a record, meteorologists said.

Thanksgiving day has an expected high in the low 60s, said National Weather Service meteorologist Charles Mott. The record for Thanksgiving is 69, set on Nov. 24, 1966. The average high for Nov. 22 is 45 degrees, Mott said

Temperatures have been higher than normal since hitting 54 on Friday. Monday's high was 59 degrees, warm but far short of the record 75 set in 1930.

Mott said high-pressure winds from the Pacific Ocean have been producing the unseasonably high temperatures, which are taking place across two-thirds of the country.

(From left) Melchior Huijts, 20, Freerick Van den Oudenalder, 20, and Max Roest, 21, of the Netherlands, eat sandwiches for a late lunch outside Monday. The three traveled to Chicago while on break from studying at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
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DNAinfo/Kyla Gardner

But the warm weather won’t stick around long — temperatures will drop Friday to be more in line with averages for the season, Mott said. The average high for the month of November is about 42 degrees.

“When everybody gets out to shopping, the temperature will start falling,” Mott said.

Many out Monday took advantage of the warmer temperatures. John Collins, 33, walked around Millennium Park with his nieces — while wearing shorts.

No stranger to warm weather, Collins was visiting family for Thanksgiving from Austin, Texas. He said temperatures in both states are similar.

For him, the mild Chicago weather was actually a break from the warmer temperatures he's used to.

“Being in Texas, anytime it’s less than 90 degrees, I’m ecstatic,” he said.